Slavoj ?i?ek's incisive critique of western Buddhism raises the following questions: Is western Buddhism the paradigmatic ideology of late capitalism? Is Buddhism nihilistic absorption in nothingness? Does Buddhism negate the Real together with the imaginary? Is Buddhist metaphysics violent? The essay considers these questions and asks if western Buddhism, contrary to what ?i?ek argues, may become an antidote to the nihilism that pervades late capitalist societies